Candlelight Vigil, Walk & Memorial Service Honors Those Afflicted

World Aids Day will be celebrated Friday in Asbury Park with a Candlelight Walk and Memorial Service.

This year, events across the globe will be centered on a unified theme tagged – Let’s End It, aimed at ending isolation, stigma, and transmission, according to the official website.

Launched in 1988 at the height of the AIDS pandemic, World AIDS Day is held annually on Dec 1 with a global goal of uniting in the fight against HIV – human immunodeficiency virus. It was the first organized global health day.

HIV was identified in 1984. Since then more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS – its associated advanced stage acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Today, there is an estimated 36.7 million people living with the virus, a close to 8 percent increase.

Global events focus on a show of support for those living with the virus and commemorate those who have died.

The local recognition will begin 6:30 p.m. at The Center in Asbury Park on Main Street. The Center is a support agency for those diagnosed with the virus and their families. The gathering will include hot chocolate and homemade cookies prior to 7 p.m. candlelight walk to Trinity Episcopal Church on Asbury Avenue where a 7:30 p.m. Memorial Service will be held.

The Center’s support programs includes providing a home for 25 people living with HIV/AIDS, emergency placements for the homeless, as well as rental and utility subsidies.

The local commemoration began in 1993, Center Development Director Patsy Vornhagen. The Third Avenue non profit serves 400 active clients annually and has served over 10,000 since 1991. Today, the number of people with HIV/AIDS in Monmouth County is 2,600; 37,000 in the state.

The all volunteer organization also runs a nutrition program that includes an emergency food and nutrition pantry, frozen home cooked meals to go, a daily lunch and monthly Sunday dinners.

The Center provides educational programs, works with the network of providers to connect people with need services and provides transportation to medical appointments and other necessary needs.